Navigators of Dune

His auburn-haired wife wore a white dress with gold brocade on the collar and sleeves, and a beret to match. They stood together in one of the palace gardens, awaiting the arrival of the Truthsayer who would take Dorotea’s place. With the new Mother Superior, most of the Sisters were being replaced at the Imperial Court. Something to do with internal politics, his advisers had informed him. A changing of the guard.

While waiting in the quiet greenhouse gardens, Roderick used the time to kneel on a pad and plant the cutting of an ornamental rose, taken from rootstock that had been in the Corrino/Butler family since before the Battle of Corrin. Emperor Faykan, Roderick’s grandfather, had started the tradition of planting roses as a sign of good luck for the reign, and Roderick intended to carry it forward. Salvador had not done so, complaining that it was unseemly for an Emperor to get his hands dirty with gardening work. Roderick did not place stock in superstitions, but his brother’s reign had not gone particularly well.…

Now that he was Emperor, Roderick had decided to establish another tradition. He would rule the people of the Imperium with a just and honorable hand, and would raise his twelve-year-old son, Javicco, to behave in the same manner. Roderick supposed all Emperors began their reigns with silent vows, of one sort or another.

“I still think you should consider negotiating with Directeur Venport,” Haditha said. “At least make the attempt.”

“If General Roon is successful, I won’t need to negotiate.” The large strike force had just departed for Kolhar, with all the ships finally loaded aboard the military carrier.

“The Imperium still needs Venport’s ships, his Navigators, his technology. Isn’t a resolution better than a conquest?”

He frowned at her. His wife always tried to be the voice of wisdom and reason. “He murdered my brother. I must make him feel profound pain before I can consider his debt paid.”

Haditha knelt near him, closely examining an exotic flower, one that bloomed all year, no matter the weather. Then she looked at him. “Is that what’s best for the Imperium, or is it just your own personal vendetta?”

“The Emperor and the Imperium are one,” he said, with a deep sigh. “Let us wait and hear the report from General Roon. If Kolhar is defeated, it will put our negotiations on a much different footing. We both want this conflict over, but we have very different ideas of how to accomplish that.”

He finished tamping down the new soil around the rose planting, and then straightened with her as an escort of Imperial guards led several black-robed women into the greenhouse garden. At the front of the group, a large-framed woman presented herself with a formal bow. “Sire, I am Reverend Mother Fielle. I have been assigned as your new Truthsayer.”

Roderick wiped his hands on a cloth, looked at the entourage. “And these other Sisters?”

“To fill the roles of those who were recalled to Wallach IX at the request of Mother Superior Valya.” They all bowed. “Sire, we exist to serve.”

Roderick caught his wife’s suspicious frown and admitted his own uneasiness. “But whom do you serve? Your Emperor? Or your order … or perhaps the highest bidder among the noble houses?”

Fielle’s fleshy face showed no reaction. “Who could possibly bid higher than the Emperor himself? We serve the Sisterhood as well, but that is a school where female candidates seek to achieve the greatest human potential. We develop a special set of skills, such as my ability to discern truth from lies. The Mother Superior deemed me worthy of filling that role for you, and I am pleased to be here.”

“Then I accept your services,” he said. “Provisionally.” He did not know the new Mother Superior Valya any more than he knew Fielle. “We shall let you prove your worth.”

Fielle bowed slightly. “Sire, to begin my service with a goodwill gesture, I am prepared to offer secret information about your rival Directeur Venport. You may find it valuable, or at least interesting. And it will begin to prove my value to you.”

Roderick was intrigued. “Information about Venport could indeed be of use to me.”

The Sisters conferred in whispers, and then Fielle reported, “Venport Holdings is desperate to control the spice operations on Arrakis for reasons that go beyond mere profits. I’m sure you realize that the Imperial military force your brother left there is not capable of maintaining control over the planet. Combined Mercantiles, a puppet corporation for Venport Holdings, continues harvesting spice, producing far more than the independent Imperial contractors. Sooner or later Venport will no longer tolerate the Imperial presence, and their incentive will be to drive out your ships. Combined Mercantiles has more spice-gathering crews on the desert planet than you do, and greater military might to defend them. The resources that Directeur Venport is willing to expend to control Arrakis exceeds what you can spare, especially with Admiral Harte’s battle group held hostage.”